Tail of a Dragon Slayer
by Soulblazer87
Summary: Naruto, in a desperate attempt to protect his fellow orphans from an insane ninja, comes into deep contact with fire. Later, he is inspired by legends of Dragons. What follows, in Naruto's attempt to emulate them, is a legend, a Dragon Slayer.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1: The Will of Fire_

Naruto was practically _skipping_ his way home. It was his first day in Konoha's academy and he was placed in the highest half of his group, much to the chagrin of his teachers for some unknown reason. His blond hair moved with the wind as the child made its way home. He was an orphan so he had no _real_ home, but the orphanage lady was kind enough to let him stay for so long. She was one of the few that didn't like Naruto, but then again, it was extremely hard to hate the blue-eyed, blonde ball of sunshine. Especially when he was so helpful in calming down the rest of the kids with his boasting tales. He could be considered a genius by some, if he wasn't hated that much. He was only 7 years old, but he could read very well. Of course, it kind of helped when few would help him learn, being forced to learn as much as he can on his own. However, little Naruto had another skill, previously hidden, his chakra. He was the first kid to unlock his chakra, _'Take that Sasuke-baka' thought the kid_, displaying an immense potential too. Some, like that beautiful pink-haired girl Haruno Sakura, hadn't even managed to sense her own chakra yet, but the blonde was certain she would be ok, she was his crush after all.

And so the kid made its way home, greeting everyone along the way, trying to be as nice as possible, even knowing they didn't especially like him. He didn't know why though, so he didn't care about it all that much. Nah, he cared more about dinner and maybe some sweets, maybe he'd get a treat, being the first to unlock his chakra. Naruto made his way home, not noticing an ominous orange-red glow come from that direction, not until he was very, very close to it. Smelling the acrid scent of burning wood and hearing a cry for help, a child's cry for help, Naruto threw down his school bag and rushed home.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw, a man, outlined in black, surrounded by flames, flames he was spitting out towards the orphanage, _his home_, while people were still inside. Naruto's instincts to protect his friends took over and he rushed in. Coming inside, he tried to avoid as many flames as he could, getting to the scary man. In front of the man, he saw the orphanage lady, Haruna, standing in front of the scared children. Naruto didn't waste any time and body-slammed the man. Of course, he didn't do much to the adult, but it was enough to send him to the ground and distract him. Naruto stood up, scurrying away from the formerly-laughing man. He saw a look of such hate, madness and fury, he almost ran for it. Almost being the keyword. Remembering the tales of brave Samurai and heros and how they fought against all odds, Naruto swallowed his fear and turned to the caretaker.

"R-run! Take everyone and run! I'll hold him for a bit, RUN!"

The woman was, of course, apalled by the mere thought. "What are you talking about Naruto-kun? I'm not leaving you here!" Then... then she saw them... the child's eyes, filled with something she had only seen in one person, a person she knew was very important but for the sake of her, she couldn't remember who. However, she knew something; the child's mind was made up, he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Naruto gave the woman a foxy smirk. "Don't worry 'bout me! I'm a ninja, a future Hokage! There's no way a little flame like that will defeat me! Now go! Go and get help!"

Haruna gathered up the children and make a break for it, only looking back at Naruto once she was at the door. What she saw terrified her as much as it gave her hope. The flames... were not approaching the boy... They seemed to bow to him, as if in respect. Naruto's outline was overlayed by another man's outline, a man in a white trenchcoat with flames licking the bottom. Then Naruto turned his head to her and the woman gasped, they were the same. They were _exactly_ the same. Naruto's face was exactly the same as _that man's_, almost like a clone of him. Only the whisker marks gave him a more sinister look, a sinister look that was quickly replaced by a mischievous smile, putting the woman at is. She knew, somehow, she _knew_ that things would be ok. Naruto would protect them.

Behind Naruto's brave facade though, things weren't as calm. Oh no, the boy was scared, scratch that, he was absolutely terrified. However, he wouldn't give up, he couldn't, it was against his very nature. So when the man looked at him with these crazed, hateful eyes, Naruto gulped and crouched forward, ready to charge him again if he did those 'magic finger things' that ninja did to use their jutsu. The man tensed and made the handseals much faster than the kid was prepared for. The man called out his technique and blew out an absolutely huge ball of fire... straight at the boy.

Naruto stared in absent terror, before he remembered something, something he had learned only that day.

_-Flashback, earlier that day, Academy-_

_"Alright everyone, who can tell me what chakra is for?" Questioned the new teacher, Iruka. Many hands came up with answers, but none of them were completely right. So, the teacher decided to answer it himself. "Chakra... is for everything. If you have enough and know how to use it, you can do anything. There are ninja that make fire out of chakra, others that control lighting, some are even rumoured to fly. So, here you are going to learn how to use your chakra. In time, you too will be able to do that, you will gain your own jutsu. With chakra, nothing is impossible" Of course, the man knew that not half of that was true, but the children believed him and he enjoyed the awed faces he got._

_-Flashback End-_

Naruto gathered all his courage. He could do anything with enough chakra right? Well, he sure as heck had enough, even Sandaime-no-jiji said he had immense reserves of the stuff. So, if he could do _anything_ what prevented him from stopping some measly fire? Even if it was a huge ball of the stuff heading towards him.

The fire obstructed the man's view of the kid and he laughed maniacally. "Yes, YES! Beautiful, you're burning beautifully, SO BEAUTIFUL! Hahaha! Everything, everything burns! Hahaha! Burn, burn!"

Soon however, the technique ceased and the man was shocked. There, right in the middle of the area... stood Naruto, his clothes mostly burned, with a veritable tornado of blue chakra surrounding him, arms stretched to the side, as if protecting those behind him. Even in the depths of his madness, the man was stunned. It shouldn't be possible, to withstand such a technique with raw, uncontrolled chakra, the boy should have truly _humongous_ reserves.

Naruto panted, it was harder than he thought, it didn't protect him completely either. However, he knew he didn't have to stay there for long, the masked men, ANBU Iruka-sensei had called them, would come soon. He would just have to last that long. The man breathed again and shot another fireball. Naruto wrapped his chakra around him and turned to the side, trying to avoid becomine completely scorched. The heat washed over him and Naruto bit a scream, he knew if he opened his mouth or drew a breath, it would be all over. So he withstood it, he took it and stayed standing. However, at the last second of the blast, it exploded, sending him sprawled on the ground. However, he was still alive.

The man gawked. It was impossible. "Why? Why don't you BURN? BURN DAMN YOU! BUUURN!"

Another burst of fire came at Naruto. The boy, even through the ordeal, couldn't help but marvel at the power of fire. It danced, beautifully from place to place, like a teardrop suspended in reverse, a joyful dance. Even though it hurt him, it also amazed him, not because it burned everything, but because it was simply... breathtaking. Without even realizing it, Naruto had just decided, fire was AWESOME. No, scratch that, ALL elemental jutsu were awesome. He wanted to learn them, master them, honor them and bond with them. The elements held so much power the boy would scarcely believe it, even if he realized his own thoughts.

Naruto painfully got up. He saw the man making his handseal thingies again. Only this time, he really felt the power building within. Fortunately, it took the man enough time for Naruto turn around and curl to a ball, trying to protect himself. When the fire came... it was beyond anything Naruto had experienced. Raw, searing agony coursed through Naruto's exposed back, scorching everything in its wake. The blast tore straight through Naruto's feeble chakra barrier, colliding with his flesh and almost drilling its way through. Naruto terrified, caught on fire. Only his terrified instinctive reaction of releasing a burst of chakra saved him, putting out the few flames on the boy.

Naruto lied in the heated floor defeated. He didn't have more chakra, he was burned, hungry, naked and he was hurting. He didn't cry though, oh no, he was a big boy and big boys don't cry, but he was sad. He was scared. Most of all, he wanted to be safe, be home, with Haruna-obaa-san hugging him and reading him a tail. Naruto's failing vision barely registered several shadowy shapes charging through the near-collapsed entrance of the orphanage before blackness, sweet, merciful blackness took him.

Several hours later, Naruto opened his eyes. The kid wondered if it was a nightmare, but the pure white ceiling told him otherwise. The scent of medicine tickled his nose and he sneezed. It was then he realized it wasn't a dream, as a sudden pain erupted on his back, where the man had blown a stream of fire. Naruto winced and blinked his eyes, trying to clear the haze. He turned to the side and saw he was on a hospital bed, with a table easily within reach. On it was a vase with several flowers and cards wishing him well.

Naruto's smile widened to a toothy grin when he saw some of his favourite candy on the desk. He sighed in pleasure when the sweet taste hit his taste buds. A few minutes later, Hokage-no-ji-chan, came in, followed by the orphanage lady and his friends. Naruto waved happily at them and tried to speak, making a mess of himself since he forgot to swallow first. The old man laughed at his childish behaviour, while Haruna giggled and hugged him tenderly, trying not to aggravate his back. His friends chuckled at his antics and high-fived him for the boys, while the girls gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing the poor blond to blush.

Sandaime took in a deep breath. "How are you feeling Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gave him a full-blown smile, blowing any doubts of the boy's stability away. "Good as new ji-chan! I told you that little fire wouldn't keep me down! Nothing can defeat me, the mighty future Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto-sama! Hahaha!" The boy laughed at everyone, only to wince and cry out in pain as the caretaker's fist bopped him over the head.

"That was stupid of you Naruto-kun! You could have died there! What were you thinking, taking all of that yourself! You are not even-"

Naruto looked at her seriously, shocking both her and the Hokage, both remembering the same look on _that man_'s face. "I had to. Everyone... everyone's my friend! I won't let my nakama get hurt! No matter what! I'll protect them because... because that's my nindo! My ninja way! And I don't go back on my word!"

Sandaime felt a pang of pain in his heart, the words being so similar to those he had heard from both of them, that day when they decided they would fight and serve Konoha. He missed them, he missed both of them so much. But, he had the new generation, standing here, in front of him. And if Naruto was any sign, then the next generation would be a truly amazing one. Though, he still felt sad that _they_ wouldn't be able to see it. Clearing his mind of the cobwebs, Sarutobi looked at the kid.

"Still, you should have dodged Naruto-kun, you didn't have to take it head on. You should have run along with everyone else."

Naruto looked at him and shook his head vigorously. "I couldn't do it ji-chan! That would put everyone in danger! I had to stop it. If I didn't, then it would hit those outside!"

Sarutobi once again sighed, seeing as the boy was as headstrong as his parents. "It was a wrong move Naruto-kun. You should have moved aside, you should have avoided these flames. It was wrong and it was foolish."

Naruto looked down, he really wanted to be praised, besides didn't he protect everyone? The old man looked at him and smiled however. "Although it was stupid, it was also a very brave thing to do Naruto-kun. To put your friends above your own safety, takes a lot of courage. You shouldn't worry about making wrong choices, everyone does. Just make sure to learn from them, alright? Besides, I think the time you will have to spend here, on that bed, will be punishment enough. The scar on your back will also remind you of it. You... really are a little hero aren't you?"

The boy cheered loudly. "Yatta! I'm a hero, I'm a hero!"

Naruto's spirits lightened up the atmosphere as the aged Kage left the room, giving Naruto time to spend with his friends. Haruna just watched from the sidelines, enjoying the interaction between her children, because she felt each and everyone of them was her child.

The boys were talking animatedly about how cool it was, while the girls were asking Naruto if he was scared. The boy then did something that impressed the woman very much. He admitted that he was scared.

"Well... yeah I was scared. I mean the whole place was on fire and he was a grown up... But, but you're all my friends. I couldnt' let him hurt you!"

The caretaker giggled as she saw the girls develop what would later be known as 'fangirlish squeal' at the boy's declaration. Heck, the begininngs of Naruto's fan club were already set. And once the story of the child hero got out... Well, at least the villagers would change their minds.

After some time, the group left Naruto to rest, with Haruna leaving a book for Naruto, a book about dragons and heroes, just like the ones he loved. Naruto thanked her profoundly, knowing he'd have something to do in all the time he'd have to spend in the hospital.

Haruna's prediction of the villagers changing their minds was proven correct. After knews of the orphanage being set on fire, many initially thought it was Naruto's fault. However, when they learned of what he had to endure to make everyone get to safety, their minds began to change. Some still thought it was the demon fox's influence, but that was quickly blown away, as there were many stories of how much Naruto had been burned to protect everyone. If it _had_ been Kyubi, then the demon wouldn't have been hurt by the flames, they should know, they tried to burn the beast but it seemed to eat them up. If it had actually hurt Naruto... then that meant that he in fact _wasn't_ the demon fox. He was... he was just another innocent boy, albeit one with a heavy burden on his shoulders. For the next week, many villagers slept restlessly, remembering the times they had been rude to the boy, remembering that not once, _not once_ had the boy attacked, retaliated or been even in the slightest rude to them. Some of the ANBU were especially intrigued by the boy. Sure many of them would charge a burning building if it was a mission, but how many of them would do it just because someone else was inside? How many of them would have done it when they were children? Finally, how many of them would have risked getting burned alive to get some people out if they were a demon fox?

Some still remained unchanging in their opinion that Naruto was Kyubi, however, they were the vast minority. Even those that the child had pranked in the past reconsidered their meetings with the kid. They realized that not one of these pranks had resulted in injury or even monetary loss. No, each and every one of these pranks had happened only after they had been rude and rejected the boy. Naruto, without knowing it, had made his first step in changing the village for the better.

In his hospital room though, Naruto didn't know anything about that, except getting more and more 'get well' cards, from people he barely knew. However, he was happy just the same. When he wasn't reading his cards or eating candy, he was reading his books. He just loved fairy tales, adventures, legends, heroes and villains. He wanted to be like that too! But most of all, he fell in love with dragons. The mighty beasts, capable of withstanding any attack, breathing fire and were so strong they could tear down mountains! He absolutely loved them! He wanted to be one too! So, when Sarutobi visited Naruto some time later, he was surprised by the child's declaration.

"I don't want to be Hokage that much any more. I found another dream!"

Sandaime was stunned, what had changed? Had the child been corrupted, had anyone else told him of his burden? It was all blown away once he looked at the child's innocent blue eyes. "Oh, so what do you want to become then Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook with determination and excitement before jumping on his bed, shaking his fist to the heavens. "I WANT TO BE A DRAGON!"

Sarutobi almost face-faulted. He caught himself in the last moment and instead chuckled good-naturedly at the child's antics. Inwards he blew a sigh of relief, the kid was a naive and childish as ever, as it should be. _'First it was ramen chef, then it was Hokage, now it's dragon? Ah well, it's a phase, it'll pass'_.

Sarutobi would take many, many months and years to realize that in fact it _wasn't_ a phase, it wouldn't pass and Naruto... Naruto had the potential to become the closest thing to a dragon a human could ever be. Even then though, he would chuckle, puff his pipe and claim that he always knew the kid was something else, he always knew. Too bad his belief in Naruto didn't help the kid pay for the stuff he destroyed when he went overboard. Which was pretty much... every time!

**A/N: *Nervous laugh* Err... hehehe... sorry about this. I just have this plot bunny and I can't shake it out of my head. So, I thought, what the hell, let's DO THIS! If that's Lady Inspiration's desire, then this is what I shall do. Some of you may have noticed, others didn't. This is a Naruto/Fairy Tail crossover, with a small twist compared to the others. Welcome to my new fic and I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.**

Also, this one will have a beta-tester most of the time, in the shape of my good friend Libra'sAngel27.

As always, read, review and send me your opinions. Flamers are appreciated because they are food for Naru-chan. So flame away and help him power up! On with the FLAMES OF YOUTH! *Get's promptly squashed by a 10ton weight thrown by Libra'sAngel* Ouch...

**Anyway, hope you like this everyone. And no, I'm not giving up on ANY of my fics. They will all get updated as soon as my Lady get's cracking around in my head. Can't write without inspiration after all, at least nothing worth writing in the first place. See ya 'round!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter: Hatchling_

To say that Naruto was overjoyed to get out of the hospital room is an understatement, so severe that the Gods themselves would freak out. The blonde hyperactive ball of energy couldn't contain himself. He was leaping around, happily proclaiming his release to all that had even less than half an ear to hear. He had spent more than a week inside, even though the past few days he was allowed to walk around, but it was still too little for the child. He wanted room to run, toys to play with, friends to laugh with and, of course, books with dragons!

Haruna had gotten the child a few pencils and a sketchbook to pass his time in the hospital. The book was filled with pictures of dragons, in various poses and of course Narut-ized dragons, or was it dragon-ized Narutos, spitting fire and flying. It had been a good hobby for the child, one that Haruna found utterly cute, seeing the kid declare it with so much conviction, that some people actually began to believe he would become one. Well at least until Naruto had his next blunder and the image shattered.

When Naruto got back to school, many things were different. Several teachers that gave him the evil eye before now treated him fairly, almost nicely. Of course, a few still gave him that eye, but Naruto didn't really care. He had his friends. Anything else was unimportant. So, the blonde devoted as much time as he could to studying. Not the school stuff, that was boring. No, he studied on mythological creatures, the mighty dragons specifically. He'd spend many hours in the library, seeking out more and more literature.

However, after a few weeks, that wasn't enough. He had read everything on dragons, but he still didn't know how to become one. So, the little child resolved to move on to bigger and greater things. Namely, a bigger and greater library.

He spent several days planning how to enter without being found out. He recorded the guard switches, the hidden passages, everything. Then, when he finally had his plan completed, he executed it. It went without a hitch and Naruto, mere hours after leaving the orphanage and with none being wiser, had managed to swipe several scrolls.

None of these scrolls had high level techniques, after all high-level stuff was either in a jonin's safe, at the Hokage's care, or in the ANBU's hands. Instead, Naruto got his hands on something very, very different. Elemental manipulation. Being who he was, he thought that if he learned how to breathe fire, a dragon would be impressed and come to him. In his childish fantasy, that was all that he required. And so Naruto trained. However, he forgot something very important.

There is a reason these scrolls were not revealed to all chuunin. It was a very dangerous practice to use elemental chakra without guidance. Naruto, being hyperactive as he was, didn't even care to read the warnings about what could happen to him. After all, he had already fought a powerful enemy and survived, what would a little bit of chakra, be it elemental, do to him? Absolutely nothing, the child was convinced. So, painstakingly slow to his opinion, yet amazingly fast at just about everybody else's standards, Naruto began learning how to turn his chakra.

Now, Iruka might have been slightly off target declaring that with chakra everything is possible, but he didn't account for one thing, the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha, Naruto. For all intents and purposes, when a student begins his elemental training, he has already ingrained several concepts within himself, a practice, a paradigm if you will, of how the world and his skills work. However, Naruto lacked all of that. He had no knowledge of the limits of chakra, fully believing that it could make anything possible. So, does it come as such a surprise to see that someone breaks limits he didn't even realize they existed?

It wasn't an immidiate change. Far from it. It came so slowly that few, if any, recognized it's initial stages. But it was there. Naruto's limited understanding of his powers led him to a greater understanding of himself, simply through sheer imagination and belief. Tinkering with his abilities, learning as much as he could, playing with this and that, experimenting... Naruto opened up a whole new path of power. Without even realizing it.

Some teachers were surprised by Naruto's continuous drop in chakra control, it was as if his chakra simply flowed on its own, doing whatever it wanted to. Not that it was ineffective, far from it, it seemed to react to Naruto's will at least somewhat. However, the most simple techniques were simply out of reach. All the teachers though believed it was just a matter of chakra potency and reserves, being beyond prodigial for one so young. They were correct... but also they were far, far from right.

Naruto's constant tinkering with fire and how to create it, had began to affect his body. Because a child's chakra coils are so maleable, it makes it possible for a bijuu to be sealed inside. However, in such a case, due to the constant pressure of power, a jinchuuriki's chakra coils never quite solidify, remaining extremely flexible, malleable and adapting throughout its life. Due to Naruto's constant use of fire and fire alone, his coils came to adapt, changing his entire physiology. His body heat increased, he felt no cold any more. He could feel when fire was merely near him and the temperature around him increased just by his emotions running strong. When, once, fell boiling oil on his skin, he didn't even blister.

However, nothing of these became apparent to all, happening slowly and over time. At least, not until... that day. The day an ambassador came to Konoha, bringing a peace agreement. Naruto had just finished the theory on his newest technique when he learned of it, confident he could now out-bid Sasuke-teme's Gokakyou. Being a small celebrity himself, he was allowed to speak to Hyuga Hinata, who at that day was having her birthday, for a period of five minutes, just enough to hand over his present and leave.

It wasn't much, even Naruto would admit that. It was just a picture, a dragonized Hinata, soaring under a midnight sky. The blonde's skills in drawing had increased dramatically, having spent so much time both drawing and writing. Still, it warmed the child's heart when Hinata thanked him so profusely. She was a nice girl, always treating everyone nicely. She always blushed and fainted too, but Naruto didn't know why. Nor did he care much anyway, it wasn't a sickness, or so he'd been told. He could do without the stutter though. Even though it was cute.

Naruto spent that night outside, wanting to camp a bit around Konoha and practice his technique. Haruna-obaa-san let him since she knew he could handle himself, not to mention he would actually scout out a nice place for the other kids to go camping another day. They had been itching for a day like that for ages. As luck would have it, Naruto set his tent near the Hyuga compound, figuring that A) they wouldn't mind and B) if something were to happen to him, they'd know immidiately and help him.

Imagine his surprise when, during his meditation to control his inferno-like chakra, he heard rapid running, and a body running through the bushes. Suddenly, a man, not much older than his own teacher, crashed into the clearing Naruto had situated his tent.

The man cursed, there was a witness. He might not like hurting kids, but he didn't have a choice, if word got out of this, Kumo would suffer. He quickly sent a prayer to Kami, apologizing for what he was about to do, withdrew a knife and got ready to attack. However, just that moment, things went wrong for the man. He hadn't accounted for a very, very simple thing; Uzumaki Naruto is _fiercely_ protective of his friends, so much in fact, that just being a friend of his friends made people untouchable in the Academy. Alas for the man though, he had no knowledge of that fact. What he DID learn though was that it was a mistake to let Naruto see who he was carrying.

As soon as Naruto's eyes fell on Hinata, he understood what was happening. Unconscious, bound Hinata + fleeing, foreign ninja willing to kill = kidnapping. As his anger flared, so did his chakra, phasing into the real world, bursting around Naruto with a brilliant flame. The blonde didn't even pay attention to that. This man was trying to kidnap, and possibly hurt, Hinata, one of his nakama. Nobody, _nobody_ layed a hand on his nakama. That was a fact that the poor man soon learned. The hard way.

In a burst of fire, Naruto's flame wreathed form launched itself at the ninja in unbelievable speeds. The man realized his kunai would do little to stop the flaming charge and reversed the grip, laying it on his forearm, in order to withstand as much as possible. When the open palm strike landed on the flat side of the kunai, the man flinched. He learned of another of Naruto's past times; physical excercise. While Naruto never learned a serious taijutsu style, he trained his body to the limits. His insane regeneration and stamina allowed him to go on for much longer, reaping greater and greater rewards. As such, even as a kid, Naruto's muscles were fine tuned to an unbelievable extent. He might have been far away from shattering boulders, but a normal human's bones would stand no chance.

The man felt his body cringe and lock up in pain from the shock of the blow, but his shock turned to horror. Naruto's palm wrapped around the man's forearm with a vice-like grip. Then the child used said appendage to launch a _devastating_ elbow strike to the man's abdomen, causing him to spit blood. As the kumo nin was folded in two, he fearfully noticed that the flames on the blonde's arm were rapidly expanding on his own arm and second, the child had placed both feet crouched on the ground and was chambering his fist ominously.

When the uppercut came, it caused several teeth to creak in protest from the force of the blow. The man was thrown back, almost flying before rolling to a stop. Realizing his disadvantage, the man let go of the girl and drew a second knife. The child's voice though froze him in absent terror.

"You... who would hurt my nakama... you who would hurt my prescious people... I won't forgive you... I will DEFINITELY NOT **FORGIVE YOU!"**

Another power surged within the boy, causing the very air to groan in fear and pain. The man had only one word he could link with the overbearing power of the youth, the youth that was standing in a veritable typhoon of fire and fury. "Ji... Jinchuuriki... You're a... a jinchuuriki!"

Naruto's mind may have caught the world, but in his current state, he couldn't give a rat's ass about the man's words. No, the teme had hurt Hinata, his nakama. While she wasn't by any stretch of the word his best friend, heck he barely knew her, she was a friend, a nakama. A member of the family called Konoha. Naruto quite simply couldn't find it inside him to care about what that dead man walking was talking about. He felt his power surge with him, following his desire, his heart's will, to exterminate that scum.

Naruto almost disappeared from the man's view, only visible due to the fiery trail he left behind him. The charge was viscious, but the man dodged. Leaping away from his hostage, he tried the only thing he had, if he wanted to survive the crazed jinchuuriki. Quickly he bagan making handseals for his jutsu, it might not kill the damn demon container, but it would stun him long enough to get away and maybe accuse him of stealing the Hyuga princess. He never got the time.

As soon as Naruto saw the man make his hand-seal thingies, he remembered the other man that had almost burned him alive. He knew that it would hurt, so he struck first. _'It's not completed yet but I have to risk it. If he blows fire at me again, not only will I get hurt, but worse, he may even hit Hinata!'_

Naruto's chakra flared and wrapped around his hands as he struck his knuckles together. The man was more than a little bit surprised to see the fire take the shape of a dragon for an instant. His surprise cost him the fight, as he couldn't un-wind the chakra from the technique he was readying, he couldn't complete the technique in time to defend and he was still in the air, unable to dodge. Naruto ignored all that and brought his fists in front of his mouth, as if making a hose extend from it. He sucked in an almost inordinate amount of air before he exclaimed his attack.

**"Karyu no... HOUKO! (Fire Dragon's ROAR!)"**

A _massive_ breath of fire issued forth, wider than three men stood tall, and slammed onto the unfortunate Kumo-nin. The ambassador screamed in pain, allowing the flames to enter from his mouth and attack his insides. When the lump of flesh landed, it was scorched beyond recognition, a mass of bone and flesh. It didn't move.

Naruto's actions caught on him, his flaming armor dissolving in the air, and he fell to his knees in exhaustion, both physical and mental. The struggling of a now-waking Hinata drew his attention though and he rushed to his friend, cutting the ropes binding her. He didn't have time to completely free her before another man charged in the clearing.

Hyuga Hiashi was a man raised in the political turbulences of the Hyuga clanhold, fought in a war and gained the esteemed rank of Elite Jounin before resigning from his ninja career to lead his clan. He had seen many, many things. However, he was still ill prepared to face Naruto after what the boy had done. He had seen the interaction via his Byakugan. The child's chakra... it was completely different than most people, it was like liquid fire flowing through its veins. Then, when the child got angry... the flare of power nearly blinded him, bathing the boy in an orange-red angry fire. However, Hiashi proved his worth as he managed to discern several things even at that.

First of all, the boy was completely unaffected by the Kyubi, the demon's power apparently was absorbed and turned to that fire-like power almost as soon as it entered Naruto's coils, submitting in a sense, to the boy's power. Then, there was the dragon shape that was formed out of chakra. As a specialist in the matter, he knew that chakra often flowed in forms that were significant to the user, often denoting the elemental affinity of a shinobi, if they were perceptive enough. However, for the child's chakra to flow in that form, instead of the expected nine-tails or even a fire as is common, and with such clarity at that... Either the kid was a genius like no other in terms of chakra, or he had found a different way to manipulate it, so much so that it could hardly be considered chakra.

Then when the technique came, it was unlike any ninjutsu. Normally, shinobi use handseals to alter and control the flow of energy, but the child didn't do anything close to that. He simply _willed_ the power in form, controlled it with nothing but sheer talent and willpower. Hiashi wouldn't for the longest time understand why Naruto laughed amused every time he was asked how he controlled that power. And when he _did_ understand, he still couldn't believe the answer was so simple that a child would see but an adult would never realize.

The distraught father, even if he was very good at keeping it a secret, rushed to his daughter. He quickly checked over her, seeing that the only wounds she had suffered were that of a chop to the back of her head and rope burns. Naruto saw the man get close to his friend and stood protectively over her.

"Who are you? I'm not letting anyone hurt Hinata!"

Hiashi almost chuckled at the boy, however he unconsciously stuck by the Hyuga decorum and merely allowed his eyes to curl upwards, which would be the equivalent of belly-laughter for the Hyuga clan leader. "I am her father Naruto-san. Why would I hurt my own daughter?"

Naruto accepted the simple logic of the statement and allowed the man to get close to the now sobbing girl. Naruto didn't know why she was crying really, sure it was scary, but still. Then he remembered, Hinata was... a _girl_! And girls cry all the time. Not sure why though. The blonde shrugged and let her father deal with her while took to watching around in case someone else came after his nakama. After all, if there's one bad person, there are bound to be more, the books said so.

It didn't take long for the cavalry, err, I mean the ANBU to arrive, flanking a grousy-looking Sandaime. Apparently the incident had forced him to wake up. The Kumo nin would never quite realize how lucky he was he had already died. An... interview... with Ibiki was FAR worse than death. Of course the fact that the fake ambassador was burned to a crisp might have helped in that regard.

"Naruto-kun! What happened here? What's going on?" Spoke the frantic Kage.

Naruto sighed, lowering his guard now that the reinforcements had arrived. "I was camping out here tonight, Haruna-obaa-san had promised to let us camp out one of these days and I wanted to find a nice place for it. Suddenly that... that _teme_" Naruto spat out the word as he pointed towards the charred remains of a former person. "He barged in here. I didn't care but then I saw he held Hinata in his arms, tied up. I will not allow _anyone_ to hurt my nakama." Naruto's declaration made everyone reel back from the force behind it. "Then he attacked me and I..." Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what he had done. "I... I... I f-fought back and... I... I burned him! I burned him alive! What have I done! I-I'm a monster! Ji-chan! I'm a monster now!"

The blonde fell back on the ground, shaking with fear of what he had done. He just tried to protect his friend, his nakama, but instead he had burned someone alive. He had killed someone. He used fire to kill, like... like _that_ man tried to! He had become just like that man, he became the one thing he hated! He burned, he _burned_ someone alive! Sobs came through Naruto's body as his unblinking eyes, still wide with shock and terror shed tears he didn't even feel. He only whispered about 'monster' and 'burned'.

The few doubts that the kid wasn't a demon were wiped out by the faces of those present. No demon would enter such a shocked state by killing, if anything it would enjoy it. While the shinobi present were surprised at how long it took for Naruto to realize it, they also understood that it was mere adrenaline keeping the boy's emotions and realizations at bay. Since the Hokage had shown up, the boy's defences went down, the adrenaline dissipated and of course his mind caught up. Sarutobi kneeled next to the distraught child.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, you're not a monster, you're not a bad man. You're a hero, twice already. You didn't do anything bad, that man would have hurt Hinata and you don't want that do you?"

"B-b-but... I" *sob* "I killed him, like _that_ man did!"

Sarutobi sighed. Usually, shinobi were ready to deal with killing by the time they exited the Academy, the psychologists made sure of that. However, a child wasn't ready for this. "Naruto-kun, listen to me. It's normal to hate killing. It means you're still human. If you were a monster you wouldn't feel like that would you? A monster would have liked it. I know for sure that the Kyubi did. But you're nothing like that. You're a hero, you did what you had to do to protect your friend. It's ok to be sad, it's ok to cry. Just think of what they would have done to poor Hinata here if you hadn't done anything?"

An ANBU shunshined to the partially scorched clearing, with the orphan caretaker with him. Haruna saw the shocked state of Naruto and ran towards him, wrapping him in a tight hug, whispering sweet words to his ear, knowing how to calm the sobbing boy down. Slowly yet steadily, the boy's sobs slowed down to a crawl, but Naruto's grip on the woman's clothes didn't let up. Sarutobi sighed deeply, he could feel the headache coming, he already knew the paperwork was waiting for him in his office. He puffed a bit of smoke out of his ever-present pipe and turned to the ANBU, letting them follow protocol.

"Naruto-kun, Hiashi, I think you should come to my office immidiately, I need an accurate testimony so the politicians don't turn it against us. Haruna-san you should come with us. I don't think Naruto-kun wants to let go of you yet. I'd prefer that Hinata would also join us, but best let her rest, the ordeal must have been shocking."

Hiashi left his now-sleeping daughter at the hands of a branch member and shunshin'ed to the Hokage's office, followed by the Kage himself and an ANBU member that took Haruna and Naruto to the room as well.

Once there, Sarutobi got a couple of scrolls out and started writing all he could, trying to remove as many holes as he could from the testimony, he didn't want any politician twisting the law and hurting Naruto or the Hyuga clan for what an enemy did. So, he made sure to ask questions to the slowly subdued blonde and the Hyuga clan head. He had to cringe though when he saw Haruna's eyes drill into him every time he pushed for more info. She might have been an ex-gennin rank kunoichi and now just barely in shape, considering her sixty years of age, but she was nothing if not overprotective of her charges. He should know. He had to investigate the remains of a crazed murderer that had escaped from the prison and made his way to the orphanage to satisfy his sick obsession. The lump of meat, bone and blood was barely recognizable and the ANBU still didn't know how she managed to inflict such wounds on the poor bastard with a kitchen knife. The photos and drawings were actually used in ANBU initiation tests to test out the rookie's mettle. If they managed to not barf by the end of the file, they passed. Even Anko and Ibiki had commented she had probably gone overboard.

After the interrogation, also known as testimony, had been completed, the room fell in a tentative quiet, as the Hokage finalized the documents. He'd have to act fast if he didn't want things to get out of hand. Kami-sama knew how badly these damn lawyers and politicians could blow things out of proportions. Suddenly, Naruto's voice cut through the silence and the present people's psyche like a hot blade through butter.

"Ne.. Ji-chan, what's... a jinchuuriki?"

The room's temperature dropped as all motion ceased. Sarutobi took in a deep breath trying to stabilize himself. "Where... where did you hear that Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, he didn't know why everyone looked at him like that. "That... that man" Naruto shivered as he remembered the Kumo ninja "He... he said I'm a jinchuuriki, after I got angry and my flames picked up. I didn't care then, but now, I want to know. What's a jinchuuriki?"

Sandaime sighed. It was something he didn't want to have to face yet. He knew he could just blow it off, but the point is the child would have to know at some point. If he lied now, who knows how Naruto would react when the truth came out? "Naruto-kun, I wanted to tell you that later, much later when you'd be grown up and understand it better. But now that I think about it, it's best to get this over and done with. Naruto-kun, this story starts 7 years ago, on the tenth of October..."

The aged man then proceeded to tell Naruto of the truth behind the Kyubi's defeat. "Keep in mind Naruto-kun, you are NOT the Kyubi, in any way, shape, or form. What you did in the orphanage and just now proves it. You are completely human, just with whiskers. Nothing more, nothing less. You are a hero, a born hero, from the moment of your birth, you've been protecting everyone, Konoha, me, your nakama. Don't let anyone lie to you about it, you are one of the greatest heroes ever born Naruto-kun. And I'm sure you will only become greater in the future."

The boy stood stock still as Haruna's arms wrapped around the child in his lap. He looked at Hiashi, who looked back with interest, not hate interest. He looked at his caretaker, who was hugging him as closely as ever. As if... as if it didn't matter what he was doing. "You... knew? You knew didn't you Haruna-obaa-san?"

The woman smiled gently at the boy. "Of course I did. Most of the village does. But I don't care about the fox. It doesn't matter to me. You're just my little Naru-chan, my boy, my hero. You're you and nothing, not even a giant fox with nine tails would ever change that Naru-chan."

The boy thought and thought hard. People knew and yet they didn't hate him. Well some did, but not anymore. Not since the orphanage fire. They saw him as Naruto, as himself. The boy felt... elated at the thought. They didn't care about the fox, they didn't mind. He... he really was their hero!

Hiashi smirked as he read the emotions of the boy. He decided to let something else be known, something that would further cement the boy's realization that he wasn't the demon, but a hero. "If I may Hokage-sama. I would like to say something else. When Naruto-san fought the kidnapper, I was too far away to interfere, but my eyes could still -san here... has a unique ability. His flames are based on chakra, but they are not. Instead of normal chakra, it's a fire-like energy unlike anything I had seen before. It's not Kyubi's power if you're wondering. The demon's power is evil, malicious. This... this is all Naruto-san's power. His own, completely unique power. It's completely separate from the demon."

The boy looked surprised. He still had his doubts, his powers might have been the result of a demon, but they weren't. It proved to him that he wasn't in fact the demon, he was innocent, he was himself. He was Uzumaki Naruto, a future dragon! The boy's determination urged him to make another declaration.

"Yosh! I've decided! I won't let the damn fox out, no matter what! If I keep him inside, he won't get our right? He won't hurt my nakama, so I'm not letting the bastard fox out! I'm going to protect everyone!"

The room was filled with Sarutobi's chukle and Haruno's giggles at the boy's dramatic pose. Hiashi's mirthful smirk was the equivalent of rollin around on a floor laughing for a Hyuga and conveyed about the same amusement. The Hyuga thought to himself, _'how much of a fool had I been to fear this child? he's so innocent and brave, even when learning of his burden. He truly is... a hero. How ironically deserving, considering how much he looks and sounds like them'_. Of course, that last thought had opened up a new avenue of thought for the Hyuga, causing his eyes to widen at the thought and then relax, if his suspicions were correct, then the child was truly a born legend, even before the Kyubi's attack.

A week passed from the Hyuga incident when a reply finally came from Kumo. Despite the Hokage's best efforts, things got twisted yet again. The Raikage wanted the head of the shinobi that killed his man, even if it was in self defence. Sarutobi told him, in fancier words though, to go mate with a goat. The man's threats however were not unbased and managed to strike an agreement when he found out that the killer of his ninja was naught but a boy, a ninja in training at that. He managed to get the boy expelled and banned from the Academy, believing that this way he would limit Konoha's access to such a potentially powerful student. One thing he didn't account for however, was Sandaime's own skill in law twisting. As soon as the wizened man saw the letter, his mind had already planned dozens of counterattacks. The Raikage tried to limit his resources would he? Well, not on the Sandaime's watch, not if his name was Sarutobi Hiruzen!

Naruto was summoned at the Hokage's office, entering to find the old man seated behind his eternal paperwork pile, Hyuga Hiashi waiting for the boy to start the meeting.

"Naruto-kun, finally you're here. I have something very important to talk to you. I got this letter from the Raikage. He... he demands that you be dropped from the ninja curriculum. For ever."

Naruto, predictably, exploded. "What? How can he _demand_ anything! You're the Hokage right! Noone commands anything from you!"

Sarutobi nodded. "Of course. However, if I don't accept his demands, he will attack Konoha, causing a war, hurting everyone, including your nakama." That calmed Naruto down, at least somewhat. "However, don't think I'm ready to give up on you because some teme thought he could hurt you. He sees you as a threat Naruto-kun, he's scared of you so he tries to weaken you. We can't have that now can we. However, before I continue, Hiashi-san here has something to tell you as well."

Hiashi squatted down to Naruto's height, looking at the child. "Naruto-san, in the past week, I have been observing you closely, even though you never saw me. I noticed some things. You... you're practicing your abilities the wrong way." Hiashi raised a hand to stop the child from interrupting him. "Or at least what's believed to be the wrong way. Somehow, you have managed to make it right, doing something that noone else can. Noone can manipulate fire like you can. Not me, not the ANBU, not even Hokage-sama. It may not be powerful yet, but it's there. However, for all this, you have a problem. You... can't use chakra any more. Not in the way a ninja can. You can't become a ninja, because your power is too different. It's so different I can barely understand it."

Naruto gaped and looked between each man, tears in his eyes. "But.. but I wanted to be a ninja! I wanted to learn jutsu and become a dragon! I wanted to..."

Sandaime bowed his head a bit, saddened by the child's broken hopes. "Now now, Hiashi said you can't be a ninja, and you can't, but he didn't say anything about not becoming a dragon? You're closer to it than anyone else your age, you can breathe fire remember? I believe in you Naruto-kun, I believe you can become a dragon. Besides, I said I wasn't going to let the Raikage win didn't I? You may not become a ninja, officially at least, but you still can fight for Konoha and protect everyone, just in a different way. You can become what's known as 'freelance contractor'. You're a, supposedly, foreign person, unaffiliated with the village, but one that is sanctioned by the village, getting missions and money from it. You won't be on the roster officially, but you will get a rank and all the rights with it once you're good enough. I will even get people to train you. So, Naruto-kun, please don't worry and don't be sad. You will reach your dreams, just in a way noone knew yet."

Naruto looked between each man. "So... can you explain it some more. I didn't quite get it. What's with the freeland thingie?"

So, for several hours, Sarutobi and Hiashi explained Naruto how things would go in the future. The child would be given material to learn from and practice, teachers the Hokage would pay for and when the time came, he would be an ally to the village. Not a Konoha ninja, but more like a mercenary of Konoha. Since Naruto would be able to protect his friends anyway, he didn't really care about how he'd do it. If protecting his nakama meant he wouldn't be an 'official' ninja, he wouldn't care. It was his nindo.

It quickly became known to Naruto's class mates. When they learned of it, they bid him good luck on learning something else than ninjutsu. Of course, they didn't know of his special training, as that would cause several problems. Hinata was almost tearful when she learned of Naruto's trouble for protecting her. Her spirits were raised somewhat however when Naruto walked away from the class one last time, his arm raised in the air, his pointer aimed to the heavens. "Minna, train hard! I'm going to protect you all so don't worry. If something happens, this Uzumaki Naruto-sama will be there to save you!"

As a responce to the boy's cheerful declaration, his hand burst in flames and a fireball shot out in the sky, exploding in a myriad of colored flames.

As the hatchling struggles to escape the bindings of the egg to freedom, so did Naruto's trials spur him on to his destiny. To his destined place as a legend amongst legends. The legendary... Dragon Slayer.

**A/N: Welcome to the next chapter of Tail of a Dragon Slayer, hoped you enjoyed it. This time Naruto faces and overcomes several odds, making his way to his destiny as a hero. With naught but a dream and his own power, how far will he go?**

**Pretty darn far I'd wager. Anyway, this chapter's also been beta-read by my dear friend Libra'sAngel27.**

**As always, please read and review, it feeds my inspiration, urging me to write more and better. One thing I'm having is if I'm going to have the Fairy Tail characters showing up (though Natsu wouldn't immidiately). Beyond just pairings, I'm wondering if I should alter a few characters (like Haku or Tenten) to suit their Fairy Tail counterparts, or add the crew to the Naruto world as people with 'different powers', much like Naruto himself is. I'll be setting up a poll soon, so take your time, think it out and let me know of your opinions. Keep in mind I like playing the devil's advocate so no matter what your opinion is, if I should discuss it with you, I will support the other one, if only for conversation's sake.**

**As a side note, the Kumo ninja didn't know about Naruto being a jinchuuriki. However, he saw a freakin' dragon made out of flames erupt around the child. He knew no better so he assumed that the child wasn't normal, categorizing him as a jinchuuriki. A little misundertsanding that, ironically, cleared up several others.**

**I also would like to apologize to my female readers on the 'girls cry a lot' part. Do not forget this is from Naruto's point of view, who at that time had no contact or real knowledge of women and kunoichi, still being at the tender age of eight. So of course it strikes him the most if a girl cries, considering he doesn't consider boys to doing such a thing, believing that 'big boys don't cry'. **

***Libra'sAngel27 smacks Soulblazer87 on the head with a wet fish* Libra'sAngel27: Not all girls cry a lot you dimwitted buffoon!**

**Yikes, note to self, don't piss of women.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: Dragon's Flight_

Team 7, also known as Team Kakashi, was restlessly fussing over their defeated leader. The elite jounin, Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi and Ero-cyclops by some, was on a bed, trying to recuperate from his ordeal. His team was forced to fight the highly ranked nuke-nin Zabuza. The man had almost killed Kakashi too. In the most humiliating way possible, by luring him in an extremely obvious trap. The more Kakashi thought about it, the more he wanted to hit himself on the head. What was he thinking, diving into a mass of water, with a _water specialist elite jounin_ as his opponent? He had practivally handed himself over to the man, the only thing he missed was a ribbon tied up around him like a belated christmas present!

Thankfully, he had done at least two things properly. He had instilled his team with the value of working together, if but momentarily seeing how their teamwork was broken apart as soon as Zabuza left them, and by sending his favourite nin-dog, Pakkun, to Konoha with requests of assistance. He could only hope he'd get a proper reinforcement that time, not another high-and-mighty ANBU rookie seeking to make a name for himself. As long as it wasn't _him_, he'd be fine. If only it wasn't him...

So, Kakashi set out to explain to his team, consisting of Haruno Sakura, 'genjutsu specialist' though she had nothing of the sort in her repertoire, Uchiha Sasuke, 'prodigial gennin of the Uchiha clan' with a total of 4 ninjutsu in his repertoire including the academy three, and Sai, just Sai, a member of the Root ANBU, placed there to watch over the flight risk Sasuke represented.

Sasuke Uchiha was the last surviving member of the Uchiha Clan, a natural born 'genius' and protege of the village. He was arrogant and prideful, seeing as how his clan and kekkei genkai were extremely powerful. However, he was hounded by a bloody past. His brother, Uchiha Itachi, murdered his entire family in a single night and forced the child to watch through the act repeatedly for seventy-two hours, almost driving the boy insane. Since then, Sasuke had never been the same, consumed by a powerful desire to get stronger and defeat his brother before restoring his clan to their former glory. At 16 years of age, he stood tall and proud, a nobleman's look as he was raised to be. He wore black and blue overalls, with a red and white fan stitched to his back like an emblem of pride. While one of the most skilled gennin of that year's batch, his arrogance and short temper, especially when his brother was mentioned, were his weakpoints.

Haruno Sakura was what most people recognized as a 'fangirl'. She had become a kunoichi in an attempt to draw the attention of her crush and so-called 'true love' Uchiha Sasuke, her team mate. So great was her infatuation that she even broke her friendship with her childhood friend, Yamanaka Ino. However, let it not be said that love leads to stupidity, merely stupid actions, as Sakura was an extremely intelligent and book-wise person. However, her infatuation with her childhood love caused her skills to suffer, dieting to the point of danger, not working out to maintain her feminine looks and taking too much time to look beautiful to her crush. She had bright pink long hair and green eyes, making her stick out compared to other shinobi, a situation made worse by both her bright red clothing and her shrill voice, a voice she used all too often, forgetting the part of ninja that made secrecy a necessity.

Sai was a doll-like, pale boy, somewhat looking like Sasuke. However, make no mistake, he was no mere gennin. He was ROOT, part of a special ANBU force created to protect Konoha through any means necessary, quite literally. His skill at bringing his drawings to life placed him at a Chuunin level, however his current assignment, watching over Sasuke for any signs of a flight risk, prevented him from rising through the ranks. Not that the boy cared. He only cared about protecting Konoha from all its enemies. His attire was mostly black cloth to let him meld in the shadows, but with the minimum amount of restriction, seeing as he was pretty weak in straight up taijutsu and needed to dodge, a lot.

The silver-haired jounin was explaining to his subordinates the facts that he was out of comission for a week, he had sent for re-inforcements and that they'd need to prepare for their next meeting with Zabuza. He did congratulate Sai though, on managing to cooperate with Sasuke (considering the Uchiha initially tried to fight solo) and releasing him from his watery prison. He was already getting a headache with Sakura's constant screeching. Initially it was because he would be downed for some time, then because they would have to fight Zabuza again and now it was because he congratulated Sai and not Sasuke, who in her opinion had done all the work.

Sadly enough, the man wasn't prepared for the headache that would come the following days by having exactly the support he didn't want to have. Not that he had anything with the boy, nothing of the sort. However, that particular boy not only was hyperactive, he was also very powerful with a habit of overdoing things. Overdoing them to the point of demolishing several stretches of road that is. Though, now that he reconsidered it, the kid would be a good influence, seeing as how he could teach Sasuke the importance of nakama, Sakura about finally getting serious and Sai how to relax sometimes.

While a certain jounin was weighing the pros and cons of a certain individual, said individual stood tall on the edge of a rowboat. His short, spiky, blonde hair framed his head like a mane, while his slitted sky blue eyes shone with an adventurous spirit. His enlarged incissors were visible through his grin, a grin that threatened to take over his entire face. He wore a long black waistcoat, bright flames curling from the ends of the coat, and as the wind blew, the coat swayed, the flames looking almost real and licking around the blond like a faithful companion. He also wore plain black pants/trousers made of sturdy, yet soft material, his shoes were plain black shinobi sandals that could be used for running, climbing and all sorts of vigorous activites. On his shoulders and around his muscular chest was a black open vest with a red rim. On the back of the vest was an orange-red dragon depiction, matching the scar on his back. And finally, there was his scarf, wrapped loosely around his neck, the material was orange and seemed to be made of some kind of shiny scales, somehow the scarf didn't fall off from the blond's shoulders.

The person's name was Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto to be exact, a person with many unique secrets and an even more unique approach to fighting. Or so he'd say, most just claimed he just went overboard. He also had a big apetite. Not just big, more like ginormous, easily competing, and blowing away, even the famed Akimichi clan. Only problem? He liked his food hot. Not spicy, _hot_, as in still-on-fire hot. He absentmindedly patted one of the scrolls on his belt, a storage scroll to carry, what else, food. Lots of food. The grin was quickly wiped out though when he also touched another scroll, the mission scroll. For Kakashi to request reinforcements, it had to be bad. Even though the cyclops was very confident, to the point of arrogance, in his skills, it was also a fact that he was extremely good. For him to request backup was almost unheard of unless the mission had gone to hell and he needed a crew to storm the place and drag it back out kicking and screaming. Then again, Naruto thought, having young gennin around him might have shown the pervert that he doesn't lead ANBU any more, the kids don't know much about fighting. Who knew? Maybe he'd eaten a slice of humble pie.

Once the rowboat reached shore, Naruto hopped off and merrily marched off, seemingly humming a cheerful song. The boatman shook his head and disappeared in the morning mists. It took some time for Naruto to follow the signs of passage Kakashi had some of his dogs make to lead the backup to the client's house. Once he arrived, he knocked the client's door a few times. A stunningly beautiful woman with black, cascading hair, deep black eyes and a kind smile met the boy.

"Yes? May I help you?" The woman asked, curious about the person's appearence.

Naruto laughed a bit, letting his incissors show. "Naruto, I'm Kakashi's reinforcements. Can you take me to the perv?"

_'Kakashi-san is a pervert?'_ Thought the woman. "Y-yes, come in. I'm Tsunami by the way."

After the pleasantries were exchanged, the woman led Naruto to the injured man's room and backed off, leaving them in peace. Naruto looked at the door, then at his fist, before looking back at the door. _'Wish I was home, that would have been fun_..._'._ He raised his hand and knocked before entering, surprising the group inside. His eyes wandered from the kunoichi, _'Homo Fangirlus'_, to the blue-dressed boy, _'Homo emus-emus'_, to the emotionless pretty boy, _'Homo Fakus'_ and finally the silver-haired jounin, _'Homo Arrogantus-Arrogantus'_. He raised a hand in a laidback sort of greeting and spoke in a gentle tone. "Yo."

Kakashi blinked, but hid his surprise. Instead he raised his hand in an identical greeting, with an identical grin to match. "Yo."

Sakura's head swivelled from the newcomer to her sensei several times before crying out "EEEEH? Who's that!"

Kakashi looked at her in his classic lazy way. "Sakura, don't freak out. He's our backup. He's going to help us a lot."

Sasuke 'hn'ed while looking at Naruto, wondering how someone that weak-looking would help them. Sai on the other hand, used his critical eye to analyze Naruto's stance _'Confident, non-threatening yet muscles are ready, he's watching everything in this room through peripherical vision, even breathing, almost doesn't blink'_. Sakura just preferred to harumph at the newcomer, in favour of basking in her crush's dark and gloomy radiance.

At Kakashi's urge to introduce each other, in order to 'promote teamwork' as he called it, Naruto went first. "My name's Naruto, just Naruto for now. I'm 16 and a freelance contractor under the employment of Lord Hokage. My specialty's demolition, wide area assault and fire. I like dragons, fire and the other elements, ramen, dragons, training and ramen. My dislikes are open perverts, liars, traitors and those who can't read underneath the underneath. Pleased to meetcha."

Sakura, Sasuke and Sai simply reintroduced themselves just as they had in the first day they met as a team. Kakashi idly noted that they hadn't changed at all since that day, well, mentally that is. Naruto looked at the recovering Kakashi seriously, well as seriously as he can get anyway.

"So, how long 'till you can stand up again Cyclops? Don't tell me one lil' nuke-nin took you down? Unless you're getting rusty."

Kakashi, knowing that the blonde didn't mean any insult, replied in kind. "Yeah well, if I had carte blanche on the man, I'd be fine. But I can't really go all out in front of the kiddies. It'll take me a week to be close to full power, can you train them until tomorrow?"

The blonde jinchuuriki snickered, while half of team seven bristled at being referred to as 'kiddies'. They had some pride damnit! "Alright, but it's not my fault if they can't move tomorrow. Ya know who my teachers were, add Anko-hime to the group."

Kakashi's visible eye widened as he began to reconsider his choice of letting the blonde powerhouse train his team, even if it would do them good. "W-well, Naruto, no need to go to _that_ level. Not everyone is as tough as you..."

Sasuke let out an ever-eloquent 'hn' sound, meaning something along the lines of 'bring it on, I'm superior', only much manlier, at least in his and Sakura's opinion. Sai on the other hand cocked **(A/N: pun unintended but funny none-the-less)** his head to the side and commented in his ordinary way. "You must either have a big penis or no penis at all to train with that woman."

Of course, the boy then had to dodge Sakura's fist, muttering something about 'how unlady-like' in the meantime. Naruto just sighed. They might have been high-ranked rookies, but that's all they were, rookies. Good compared to their class-mates, but compared to someone experienced, like Kakashi or even himself, they were completely out of their water. So, first thing would be showing them the gap between their skills. Wouldn't pay to have the rookies underestimating him now, would it?

The blonde gave them a toothy grin that, for _some_ reason, made the group feel very uncomfortable, even Sai, although the boy didn't understand why. Naruto got up, dusting off his clothes from imaginary dust and turned to the rest of the gennin. "Alright little chibis, let's get crackin'!" With these words, the group of gennin, led by the new arrival, marched down. Though, in Naruto's case, he really acted like parading in a self-important way, even going so far as to shout commands like 'Uchiha, get in line!' or 'Haruno, keep you back straight, we have a reputation to maintain!'. In the time it took for team seven to get outside the house, they had all classified the newcomer as either insane or a very good actor.

Once outside, Naruto had the group line up, as if they were going through drills in some militant group. He stood in front of them at attention, glaring holes through them. What he really was doing however, was assessing them and their stances. He was quite pleased at Sai's body placement, seeing as he kept to the side as much as possible, next to a tree, ready to Kawarimi in case of attack, just as he had been taught to do. Sasuke however stood as far as possible from his team mates, right in the middle of the clearing, displaying arrogance more than confidence. Haruno was by far the worst of the group, shaking with barely repressed rage, possibly from his dismissal of her crush and his sudden arrival.

Glaring time over, Naruto sighed. "Alright, since Kaka-hentai's out of commission, I'm gonna have to train you a bit. Unfortunately, I don't know jack shit about you, neither am I in any mood to learn. I only need your combat capabilities. What better way to find out then, than sparring. So, with that in mind, Homo Emus-Emus, step forward." Naruto pointed at the brooder of the group, causing him to blink in surprise.

"Homo Emus-Emus?" Asked the surprised Uchiha heir.

Naruto chuckled at his expression. "Well you're an emo. So, it's Homo Emus. Since your kind tends to cut their wrists all too often, there are really so few left. Good thing too. Anyway, with the emo population finally getting cut down, you are an endangered species. Hence, Emus-Emus. Now, let's have a small spar. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

The smirk on the blonde's face infuriated the Uchiha almost as much as his dismissive nickname. Nobody dismisses an Uchiha! An Elite!

So, without waiting for the signal to start, Sasuke leapt towards his trainer, hand cocked back in an obvious attempt to introduce his fist to the blonde's face. In the last second however, the blonde's face disappeared from Sasuke's view and he felt something hit his legs, causing him to stumble forward. The feeling of a pair of arms on his chest was the only warning he got before he was sent flying over his instructor and onto a tree. The impact expelled all the wind from Sasuke's lungs and the boy groaned.

Sai was impressed. For someone that didn't use chakra, that was one impressive maneuevre. Right before the impact with Sasuke's fist, Naruto had ducked very quickly and lashed out with his right leg, causing the speeding gennin to stumble. He had then quickly placed the leg to the ground firmly, restoring his balance, before grabbing the Uchiha by the chest and sending him flying over his head. No wasted movement, little exhertion and a lot of damage. Perfect execution. Such a move could have been deadly if Naruto had sent a few kunai towards the surprised Sasuke, seeing as the knives would fly through the air faster than the Uchiha heir himself, wounding him.

Sakura on the other hand was incessed. How dare that blonde mop of hair, that clanless nobody, manhandle _her_ Sasuke-kun like that. With a warcry she charged Naruto. The blonde smirked at the notion of her hurting him and moved to counter. Seeing as the pinkette used a byproduct of the Academy's classic style, and a bad one at that, he knew what she was going to do almost as soon as she herself thought of it. He shifted his weight to his front leg, before turning around, placing his hands on the ground for balance and lashing out to the girl with a devastating variation of a roundhouse kick.

The surprised girl didn't have time to react properly, getting hit at the temple. She followed her crush's example and landed harshly at the roots of a tree. Naruto calmly put his leg down and righted himself before looking at the last member of the group. "Do you want to have a shot at this yourself Homo Fakus?"

Sai cocked his head to the side again, not quite getting the nickname, but he shook his head at the question. "No. It is obvious you are at a higher level and possess higher authority than me. It would be foolish to fight for something as trivial as bragging rights. Though, you did answer my question. You have a big penis."

Naruto chuckled at him and shook his head. "Well, at least one of you kiddies has a functioning brain. Wish that Homo Fangirlus over there would actually use her own. Anyway, team line up NOW!"

The blonde instructor's cry had the scared pink-haired girl at her feet in an instant. Sasuke took a few more seconds to follow, if but to display his own rebellion against the newcomer's authority. Sai shrugged, it wasn't really all that different than ROOT training. If someone higher ranked said jump, you jumped until you had permission to land back down. It was exhausting, but also made for very powerful shinobi.

Naruto layed out the dirt on the team. "Alright, first up Homo Emus-Emus, what the hell were you thinking? Charging a higher ranked officer? The spar hadn't started, meaning you just attacked me without clearence. I could get you court-marshalled for this buster. I'll give you this one as a freebie, but next time, I'm gonna kick your ass to next Sunday and introduce you to one of my best friends, the head of the Torture and Interrogation. Got it punk?"

The last loyal Uchiha grumbled something inaudible at first, causing Naruto to ask him if he understood, to which the boy voiced his understanding, albeit in much fewer words.

Seeing the brooding kid's rebellious urges curbed, Naruto turned to the next on his roster. "Homo Fangirlus... You suck at so many levels, it's hard to even explain. I can overlook emo-boy's charge, we all know he's not the sanest person here. But for _you_ to charge _me_? Are you serious? You are weak, slow, nearly emaciated from your stupid diet and all in all pathetic. You charged me, your superior officer, with such an obvious, telegraphed move, that I doubt even an Academy student wouldn't see from a mile away. Heck, a civilian would have done a better job. Not only that, but while I can accept the fact I pushed the punk around a bit, you attacked me for hitting your crush? _Your crush_? Seriously, emotions such as a pathetic infatuation do _not_ have a place in my squad. And until Kaka-hentai's up and runnin, you are not his squad, you're _mine!_ Am I clear on this?"

The pink haired kunoichi just shook like a leaf from the beratting, which wasn't anywhere near what Naruto could really do, before answering in a timid, subdued voice. "H-hai..."

Naruto looked at Sai and shook his head, the boy already knew his weakpoints, there was no point in him bringing them out to the light. "Now that we have established the pecking order, it's time for some training. Sai, you lead them around in a few miles long run. I wanna see how much stamina they have."

The emotionless boy nodded and turned to his team, fake smile in place. "Come on Forehead-san, Brooder-san. Let's go."

A few short hours later, Team Kakashi was panting for breath. Well, specifically, Sakura was sprawled on the ground hyperventilating, Sasuke was crumbled at the root of a tree trying to force his muscles to move and Sai was panting but somehow remained standing. Naruto, or the Slave Driver of Doom in Sakura's and Sasuke's eyes, eye-smiled at them. "Good, you've completed the warm up. Now, to get serious..."

The cursing that ensued inside Sakura's mind would have made a sailor blush. Sasuke on the other hand simply decided that if he completed the training regimen, he'd be closer to killing his brother. Sai just wondered if even his estimation of Naruto's penis was off target. Which of course caused Sakura to hit him on the head once he expressed it. She wouldn't dare raise a hand at her trainer, but against her team-mate? It was open season for the pinkette.

Naruto had the group perform several raw physical excercises, snickering at how much they had depended on chakra. While Sasuke was fairly developed for his age, he constantly trained for speed only. Also, since he had left the Academy, he allowed his skills to dull, believing that new jutsu would make physical skills redundant, or maybe that he would also be able to copy his enemies' physical stature as well as their jutsu. Sakura on the other hand, never was one for physical exhertion, always depending on her superior brain skills to get her through. While, yes, an intelligent mind was one of the, if not _the_, most powerfull weapons of a shinobi, it was just one tool. No matter how smart one was, if he didn't have the resources to be effective, he would fail, simple as that. Add being on a diet as a kunoichi, and Naruto was wondering how the heck she was still standing. Of course, knowing Hatake, he probably didn't train them all that much, believing they would realize their shortcomings and get to it on their own.

He didn't have anything bad to say about Sai. Though, on the other hand, he didn't have much good to say about him either. He was in the absolute middle between a new Chuunin and a veteran Chuunin. Either he was holding back expertly or, most probably, he had hit some sort of glass ceiling, preventing him from taking that extra step to jounin-hood. Naruto didn't really care about that. He was more of a hands-on type of guy, an opposite to Sai's meticulous planning and 'guerilla warfare' tactics.

By the time dinner was ready, cell seven was in the worst shape they had been in a long time, or in Sakura's case ever. Naruto had them work on anything, speed, strength, flexibility, instincts. Though, thankfully for the group, he didn't take a leaf out of Anko's book and start cooking them alive. He _did_ force them to quit however, breaking Sakura's and Sasuke's belief of superiority. It was quite the eye-opener for the lonely heir. Not that it discouraged him, nothing of the sort. It just made him hate his brother even more and direct all that hate to his training, causing Naruto to frown as he saw the deepening scowl.

Deciding to give Kakashi at least some form of respect, even though he himself rarely did so, Naruto decided to report to the jounin. He knocked a few times and waited for the man to let him in.

"Yo Kakashi. Gotta report about your team's training."

The silver-haired jounin nodded. "Yeah. I kind of hoped you'd have reinforced us. My team is... not the best around. They look good on paper, but in practice they are not exactly 'clicking together' if you know what I mean."

Naruto sighed at that. It was painfully obvious. "I know, I know. Sai's completely emotionless, though he has a good head on his shoulders and quite a few skills, as expected from where he comes from. What worries me however, is Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura is for obvious reasons. She has the brains, but doesn't use them because she's too busy basking in the brooder's presence or something. When I manhandled the gaki, she charged me out of the blue for hurting him. Even though the idiot had attacked me first, without even waiting for my signal to start the spar. She is obsessive Kakashi. And she has the object of her obsession next to her all the time. Dunno 'bout you, but I don't think that's exactly smart." 

Kakashi shrugged. "Not much I can do there Naruto. I couldn't fail them and I didn't want to pass them. I tried talking to Hokage-sama, but he had none of it. He probably thought that she'd quit the program after her first time seeing blood, which isn't far from the truth. She almost did when she was just exposed to Zabuza's unfocused killer intent. I'd like to break her, but you know they'd never let me use the good old ways of doing so. It would be 'bad for our image' or some crap like that. As if marketing images have anything to do with combat. What about Sasuke?"

"Sasuke is unstable. He is overly proud and arrogant, not that I blame him too much on that. He does come from a highly respected clan and he had the entire village wiping his ass since _that_. Problem is that he doesn't even fight his enemies. He fights Itachi. Whenever he goes to fight someone, he only sees Itachi in their place. He isn't ready for the burden of fighting and killing yet Kakashi. Sasuke needs professional help on that and a lot of companionship. But you know how that ended up huh?"

Kakashi nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, I heard your orphanage asked him to come and join you, but he refused in favour of staying at the Uchiha clan's compound. Not the best thing for a wounded mind like Sasuke's. You couldn't force him though."

Naruto grunted, before flexing his muscles a bit. "I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it. Kakashi... try to limit Sasuke's access to high-ranked material. Sure, neither of us is completely sane, but heck, he just takes the cake. Though, I wonder, if we had him force-read some of your Icha-Icha, he may come around. You know, he get's laid, he breaks out of his funk. Though I highly doubt that..."

Kakshi could only chuckle at the blonde's declaration. However, it was the end of the report as Tsunami came in, bowl of food in hand, and forced Naruto out in order to let Kakashi rest.

Downstairs, at the dining room, the members of team seven were gawking at Naruto. The blonde was eating faster than they could blink. Not only that, but he had pulled over a log on a metallic saucer, lit it on fire and put his food over it to 'heat it up. Then he proceeded to eat the still-burning food, without any sign of pain or annoyance. The food was much better than usual because Naruto, being his kind and caring self, unsealed a large amount of food for Tsunami to use. It was then that a boy, no older than eight or nine years old decided to speak up.

"Why are you so damn happy! You're all going to die!"

Naruto blinked at the kid and tried to speak out, spraying the table with half-munched meat (venison to be exact). Realizing his mistake he gulped before looking at the child, bored. "Gomen for the food. But, kiddo, why the heck do you think we're gonna die? I mean, I dunno about the chibis over there" He pointed towards team seven. "but this isn't my first serious mission. Been off the kiddie board for quite some time, I don't think some midget's gonna take me down. After all, I am a hero." Here Naruto chuckled remembering his past.

Inari on the other hand was incessed. "There's no such things as heroes! Gatou's going to kill you all! You're all going to die so don't barge in here, thinking you can do anything, because you don't know us! You don't know real pain!"

Naruto looked at the boy seriously. "What powers does that 'Gatou' person have? What can he do? Nothing that's what. And don't you dare talk to me about not knowing pain. By the time I was your age, brat, I had already been called a hero. Wanna know why? Because an insane Uchiha thought it would have been fun to burn some people alive! He chose to come to the orphanage I lived at, because it had the least security possible. I _charged_ head into the flames gaki, dove right into the fire to protect MY prescious people, MY friends, MY nakama. By the time help had arrived, my back had become like a well done steak, so don't you try to force your little sob story on me gaki. You're not even in my top-ten of shitty lives list. Heck, Sasuke-teme here, he's had a much harsher time than you. And, even if he does it in the wrong way, he's still fighting. Now tell me, if we didn't give up, then why do _you_?" Naruto, angered by the whiny brat's actions.

Inari's little world shattered. His thoughts, his world, his absolute belief in something he considered to be a given, was shattered. Tears in his eyes he ran off, ignoring his mother's calls or the worried and hurt look on his grandfather's eyes. Naruto sighed as he got up. "I'll go get the gaki. Someone has to show him what it means to fight."

Inari was sobbing in his room, looking outside the window, his adopted father's portrait stained with his tears. Suddenly, he heard a hand knock on his door and the blonde's voice cut through the night's air. "Can I come in?"

Inari sniffled, neither allowing nor denying entrance to the blonde. The door opened, steps echoed in the room, breaking the monotony of sobs and the creaking sound of a closing door was but a warning before a large body sat down next to Inari.

"You know... I don't hate you, or look down at you. Truth be told... I was scared shitless when I charged in that flaming building... I think that even Kaiza was scared when he dove in the water."

Inari stopped crying only to glare at Naruto's implication that his adoptive father was scared. He wasn't scared, he wasn't terrified. He was a liar, a false hero. Naruto looked wistfully at the full moon that was shining down at the place. A bird's cry echoed through the night, gentle waves splashed through the beach. "It's alright to be scared you know. After all, a hero is not a hero unto himself. People like Kaiza... don't like to be called heroes. They are not perfect and they know it. I know I do. But... they have to take up that mantle, appear fearless to others so that they can follow their example. There is no man that isn't afraid. But the difference is... a hero conquers his fears."

The young boy sniffled next to Naruto. "B-but why? Why did he have to die? Why did he have to go against Gatou?"

A chuckle, dark and mirthless slightly startled the child. "Because he loved you. He cared. That's what gave him the power to overcome his fear. He hoped that his actions would have led everyone else into the same path. Sure, one man's strength isn't great, but if you had all taken up arms at that time? Gatou wouldn't have entrenched himself here, you would have been free. What's done is done, but you can use this knowledge to prepare yourself. Because this world isn't a kind place, it doesn't care about you or me. That's why... that's why you have to follow your father's footsteps and protect your nakama... With your hands, with your body, with your heart and soul. That is what a hero is all about kid. That's why noone declares himself a hero, but others do."

With these words and a pat on the child's head, Naruto left the boy to consider and think, understand and realize. After all, some things can only be understood alone, without outside involvement. The blonde sighed as he exited the room. Seeing a child down like that hurt him deep, seeing as he had to go through a harsh childhood at the begining too.

Naruto walked down, hands in his pockets, finding team seven lounging in the living room. Hearing him walk down, Sakura turned her head towards him. "You... you're Uzumaki Naruto aren't you?"

The blonde felt somewhat weirded out by the declaration, using his hand to scratch the back of his head. "Yeah, that's me. What's it to you?"

The girl nodded once before looking back at her surprised team mate and crush. "You should remember him Sasuke-kun. Back in the first year, he was in our class but something happened with the Hyuga clan and he was forced to stop the Academy."

The brooding boy looked at Naruto and hn'ed. "An Academy dropout is our back-up? Pathetic."

Before Naruto had time to correct him, Sakura did. "That's wrong Sasuke-kun. Rumours said that Kumo tried to kindnap a Hyuga and almost managed it if not for Naruto-san's intervention. He killed the criminal, but the Raikage demanded his life for attacking the ambassador, even if it was a fake one. Sandaime-sama refused and had to force Naruto-san to stop his ninja training and forbid him from learning any ninjutsu or genjutsu to avoid a war."

Now the Uchiha was reconsidering his actions. If his memory served him well, which was true since good memory was a side effect of the Sharingan bloodline even if hadn't activated, the Hyuga incident had taken place several years ago. That meant that Naruto, being his age, should have been a child. For a child to defeat an ambassador, a grown shinobi... The blonde must have been some sort of genius, a genius like _him_. The boy clenched his fists in anger. Why... why did everyone have to be stronger than him? Why couldn't he be the strongest? Even that blonde-haired baka was a chuunin, without even using jutsu!

Naruto took no notice of the dark haired boy's mood drop. He turned to Kakashi and asked for permission to leave the building, to which Kakashi agreed. The boy could do some scouting, some training and maybe vent some of the anger he had burning inside.

In the morning, a person walked through the woods, dressed in a pink kimono and a small hand basket in hand, looking for several herbs. The person saw a blonde teen sleeping in the root of a tree and shrugged. What one did, was his own choice. Walking by the boy, the person was quite surprised to hear calm voice speak.

"You know, if not for that scent of blood on you, you'd smell quite nice nee-san..."

**A/N: Another chapter, for your reading pleasure. Sorry for the delay, but exams are coming up, so my life got kinda hectic.**

**Once again, this chapter has been beta-read by my dear friend Libra of Fairy Tail.**

**I hope you liked the chapter, even though I couldn't for some reason show Naruto as 'hyper' as he usually is. I'm also having trouble with Happy, but I'll see what I can do about the damn cat. I may not include him at all. I'll see.**


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